Six Baltimore officers face murder charges over Freddie Gray's death

Scott Malone and Ian Simpson

Six Baltimore police officers will face criminal charges, including second-degree murder and manslaughter, in the death of a black man who was arrested and suffered a fatal neck injury while riding in a moving police van.

A mural on the side of a building in the neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested Credit: Andrew Burton

Six Baltimore police officers will face criminal charges, including second-degree murder and manslaughter, in the death of a black man who was arrested and suffered a fatal neck injury while riding in a moving police van.

Share

Six Baltimore officers face murder charges over Freddie Gray's death

Independent.ie

Six Baltimore police officers will face criminal charges, including second-degree murder and manslaughter, in the death of a black man who was arrested and suffered a fatal neck injury while riding in a moving police van.

Gray's death has become the latest flashpoint in a national outcry over the treatment of African-Americans and other minority groups by US law enforcement.

After a night of rioting in Baltimore on Monday, protests spread to other major cities in a reprise of demonstrations last year set off by police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.

Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the officers charged, Ms Mosby said at a dramatic news conference in front of a city office building across from Baltimore City Hall.

In addition to murder and manslaughter, charges include assault, misconduct and false imprisonment.

Representatives for the police union and Gray's family were not immediately available for comment.

"We put all our resources to make sure we were pursuing and leading where the facts took us in this case, which was to pursue justice," Ms Mosby said, a day after the Baltimore Police Department turned over findings from its internal investigation.

Ms Mosby said the Maryland chief medical examiner ruled Gray's death a homicide.